Connect offices, branches and temporary sites around the applications people use. Stratiis helps organisations across Scotland design and manage secure connectivity with clear visibility, appropriate resilience and consistent support.
What is multi-site business connectivity?
Multi-site connectivity links two or more business locations to the internet, cloud services and, where required, each other. A design may combine business broadband, leased lines, site-to-site VPNs, private circuits and SD-WAN. The best arrangement depends on where your applications sit, how critical each site is, what security controls are needed and what happens when a connection fails.
Has your network grown site by site without a common plan?
Different routers, carriers, Wi-Fi settings and undocumented VPNs make faults harder to diagnose. Cloud traffic may take an unnecessary trip through head office. A small branch may have no backup, while contracts and renewals are spread across suppliers.
A multi-site review creates a clear picture of circuits, applications, security, costs and responsibilities. From there, each location can receive the right service without forcing every site into the same design.
Consistent access
People can reach the right applications from the sites where they work.
Central visibility
Support can see connection health, usage and faults across the estate.
Stronger continuity
Critical sites have tested backup routes and a clear response plan.
Clearer ownership
Circuits, routers, firewalls, contracts and providers are documented.
Different locations need different connections
A head office or contact centre may justify dedicated capacity and diverse backup. A small branch may work well on business broadband with mobile failover. Temporary sites may need rapid 4G or 5G deployment. The choice follows business impact, application demand and local availability.
| Site type | Typical priority | Connectivity to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Critical hub | Many users, customer calls, shared systems and limited tolerance for downtime. | Leased line or suitable high-capacity primary, separate backup, monitored routing and power planning. |
| Standard office | Cloud applications, collaboration, voice and predictable support. | Business broadband or leased line according to demand, with proportionate failover. |
| Small branch | Essential applications and calls for a smaller team. | Business broadband with tested 4G/5G or another suitable backup. |
| Temporary or remote site | Fast setup, secure access and equipment that can be recovered. | Mobile or fixed wireless initially, with a permanent service where justified. |
Explore Business Broadband and Business Leased Lines when choosing primary connections.
Private circuits, VPNs or SD-WAN?
A Wide Area Network, or WAN, links locations over distance. It can use private circuits, secure connections over the internet, or a mix. The technology should follow where systems are hosted and how traffic must be protected and prioritised.
Site-to-site VPN
An encrypted tunnel connects networks over internet services. It can be suitable for straightforward office links, but performance and uptime depend on the connection at each end.
Private connectivity
A private circuit connects defined locations or services without necessarily providing general internet access. It may fit critical shared systems or specific security and performance needs.
SD-WAN
SD-WAN applies central policies and can steer traffic over available links. It may help with many sites, changing routes or cloud applications, but it does not improve a poor underlying circuit by itself.
Not every business needs SD-WAN. A smaller network may be easier to support with well-managed firewalls and VPNs. The design should explain the operational benefit of each component.
Should every site send internet traffic through head office?
Traditional networks often routed branch traffic through one central connection. When staff mainly use Microsoft 365, Teams and other cloud services, that detour can add load and create a single point of failure. Local internet breakout lets a site reach those services directly.
Direct breakout needs security controls at each location, including firewalls, filtering, identity and monitoring. Some shared or legacy systems may still require a route to head office or a data centre. The network can treat those traffic types differently.
Centralised access
Useful where applications or controls sit in one location, but central circuits and equipment must be sized and protected for the dependent sites.
Local breakout
Can simplify access to cloud services and reduce unnecessary routing. Security and support responsibilities must follow the new path.
Design around calls, customer systems and collaboration
A network diagram is useful only if it supports the work people do. Test Microsoft 365 and Teams at every site, along with Hosted Voice, contact-centre platforms, CRM, finance tools, remote access and shared servers. A problem at one office may involve its Wi-Fi, firewall or provider rather than the wider WAN.
Hosted Voice
Check call quality, number routing and what happens to active and new calls when a site fails over. Voice may need traffic priority on smaller backup links.
Contact centres
Calls, CRM, recording and agent tools may all depend on the same site. Size primary and backup paths for the expected concurrent agents and plan alternative routing.
Wireless access
Consistent Wi-Fi settings help employees move between offices, but each building still needs suitable coverage, capacity, guest access and security.
Keep access consistent without giving every site the same risk
Routers and firewalls should be managed to a documented standard, with appropriate rules for staff, guests, suppliers and connected devices. Network segmentation can limit which systems different users or devices reach. A new branch should not inherit unnecessary access simply because it joins the WAN.
Document VPNs, routing, public IPs, cloud allow lists and third-party connections. Review those records when sites open, move or close, and make sure monitoring shows which location and service is affected during an incident.
Monitor the estate and know who fixes each fault
Central visibility can show circuit status, bandwidth use, packet loss, delay, router and firewall health, and failover events. It should support action rather than remain an unread dashboard. A current site register should include addresses, carriers, service IDs, contracts, equipment, backup arrangements and support contacts.
Multiple suppliers are workable when incident ownership is clear. A fault may sit with the carrier, local power, firewall, Wi-Fi or an application. Stratiis can help coordinate diagnosis and escalation within the agreed service scope.
What happens when one site or connection fails?
Every location does not need the same resilience, but each should have an agreed response. Backup broadband, 4G/5G, fixed wireless or a second leased line can keep priority work moving. Automatic failover should be tested with real calls, cloud applications, VPNs and static-IP dependencies.
Two different providers do not prove physical diversity if they share a duct, exchange, building entry or power. A head-office failure can affect branches that depend on its internet access or shared servers. Test that scenario as well as a simple circuit fault.
Explore Internet Failover for backup options and testing.
Plan openings, moves, temporary sites and closures
Connectivity can take longer to deliver than a fit-out. New sites need availability checks, building access, cabling, equipment, security configuration and possibly temporary service. Construction and engineering teams may need mobile or fixed wireless access while a site is active.
When an office moves, test the new service before retiring the old one. A closure should remove unused circuits, licences, VPNs and access rules, recover equipment and update the network records. This prevents cost and security obligations from being left behind.
Multi-site design follows the service each location provides
Housing associations may need dependable links between customer contact, repairs teams and local offices. Accountancy and professional-services firms rely on secure cloud access, client communication and shared documents across locations. Charities may need a cost-conscious standard for several small sites while protecting service-user contact.
Construction and engineering organisations often add and close temporary sites. Retail and other customer locations may prioritise payment systems and customer-facing services. A critical central hub can use a stronger connection than a small branch without leaving the branch unsupported.
What should you ask a multi-site provider?
Ask how they classify sites, compare available connection types, design cloud access and secure each location. Request a clear explanation of WAN and SD-WAN choices, monitoring, backup capacity, route diversity, migration testing and fault ownership across suppliers.
Compare the total cost of circuits, routers, firewalls, licences, installation, backup and support. A standard site model can simplify budgeting, but it should leave room for critical hubs and small branches to have different requirements.
How Stratiis plans and manages multi-site connectivity
We start with the estate and the applications it supports, then assess current connections and risks. The recommendation describes the right service for each site, how security and routing will work, and how migration and ongoing support will be handled.
Discover
Map sites, users, applications, contracts and current problems.
Audit
Review circuits, routers, VPNs, security, Wi-Fi and documentation.
Classify
Set capacity and resilience priorities for each type of site.
Design
Choose routing, cloud access, backup and security policies.
Migrate
Install and test services, applications, calls and failover.
Operate
Monitor, document, support and review the estate as it changes.
Multi-site connectivity FAQs
Practical answers to common questions about linking and managing business locations.
What is multi-site connectivity?
It is the design and management of network access across two or more business locations. It may connect people to cloud applications, shared systems, voice services and other sites through broadband, leased lines, VPNs, private circuits or SD-WAN.
What is a WAN?
A Wide Area Network links locations over distance. It can combine private circuits and secure internet-based connections, with routing and security designed around the applications each site needs.
What is SD-WAN?
Software-defined WAN centrally manages how traffic uses available connections. It can apply policies, monitor link quality and steer traffic between routes, but it still depends on the quality of the underlying circuits.
Do we need SD-WAN?
Only if its management, routing or resilience features solve a real problem. A smaller estate with simple needs may be well served by managed firewalls and site-to-site VPNs.
What is a site-to-site VPN?
It is an encrypted connection between networks, commonly over internet services. It can link offices securely, but performance and availability depend on the internet paths at each end.
Is a VPN the same as a leased line?
No. A VPN provides an encrypted network path. A leased line is a dedicated connectivity service; it can carry internet or private traffic depending on the product.
Do all sites need leased lines?
No. A critical hub or contact centre may justify dedicated capacity, while a smaller branch may use business broadband with suitable failover. Match the service to site importance and demand.
Can sites use different providers?
Yes. A multi-site network can use different carriers and technologies. The design should document support ownership, routing, security and contract dates at every location.
Can ordinary broadband connect offices?
Business broadband can carry secure VPN or SD-WAN traffic where its capacity and service terms suit the site. Test the applications and plan for outages.
What is local internet breakout?
It lets a site reach cloud and internet services directly rather than sending all traffic through a head office first. This can reduce unnecessary detours when security controls are designed for each site.
Is local internet breakout secure?
It can be when each site has appropriate firewall, filtering, identity and monitoring controls. The security model must follow where users and applications now connect.
Why might Teams work poorly at one office?
Possible causes include that site’s internet path, Wi-Fi, firewall, device load or a route through another office. Compare local performance with other sites before changing the WAN.
What happens if the head office connection fails?
It depends on the design. Sites that rely on head-office internet or shared servers may lose access; sites with local cloud breakout may continue some work. Test the actual failure scenario.
Can each site have backup internet?
Yes. Backup may use 4G/5G, a second broadband line or another circuit. Size it for critical traffic and test automatic switching, voice and VPN behaviour.
Does using two providers guarantee resilience?
No. Their services may share a duct, exchange, building entry or power source. Ask what physical route diversity is actually delivered.
Can failover happen automatically?
A suitable router, firewall or SD-WAN design can switch to an available backup. Detection, application behaviour and return to the primary route should be tested.
Can employees work from any office?
Often, if identity, Wi-Fi, application access and security policies are designed consistently. Some legacy systems or location-specific services may need additional work.
Can Stratiis manage routers and firewalls at every site?
Stratiis can provide central management and support for site networking within the agreed service scope, with monitoring and documentation across locations.
Can you help open a new office?
Stratiis can assess availability, arrange suitable connectivity, configure local networking and plan temporary access while permanent circuits are delivered.
Can you help close a site?
Yes. A closure should include circuit and licence cancellation, equipment recovery, routing and VPN removal, contract review and updated documentation.
How much does multi-site connectivity cost?
Cost depends on site count, carriers, circuit types, bandwidth, routers, firewalls, licences, installation, support and backup. Compare the total estate cost and business impact of outages.
Can Stratiis support several telecoms providers?
Stratiis can coordinate a multi-carrier environment within the agreed scope, providing a clear route for incident handling and escalation across sites.
Bring every site into a clear network plan
Stratiis can review your current estate, identify bottlenecks and single points of failure, and recommend a secure, supportable design for your locations.
Book a Multi-Site Connectivity ReviewExplore Internet Failover
Call 0141 348 7960 or email sales@stratiis.com.
